Job seekers line up for McDonald’s National Hiring Day

by Brian Watt

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Dozens of job seekers line up in parking lot of McDonald's on La Cienega Blvd. near Baldwin Hills. Brian Watt/KPCC

Everyone who’s waiting in long lines at McDonald’s across the country today may not be there for Big Macs. The fast food chain’s holding a National Hiring Day with a goal of bringing on tens of thousands of new employees.

Robert Johnson, 35, showed up early in the morning at a West Los Angeles McDonald's. He wants a job at a location that stays open all night.

"Hopefully I could work 12 to like 8 in the morning, that way I could have other options to go to school or look for another job," says Johnson. "Any job that come along, I would be willing to take it. Yes, it has been hard to find a job. Very hard."

The long lines at this McDonald's on La Cienega Boulevard in Baldwin Hills weren’t inside for Big Macs, but outside in the parking lot for McJobs. Store managers set up a tent decorated with balloons and handed out applications and a 35-item questionnaire.

Ray Shawn Gabriel, 19, was among the dozens of job seekers who waited. "Well, I haven’t had an actual paying job, but I’ve done volunteer work, but I’m willing to learn and work."

Earnest McDaniel, 51, wore a shirt and tie, hoping to get a part-time job at night. The garbage-can cleaning business he started has slowed down recently. "You know, money’s tight and people, they’re basically holding on to the money they have – which I can’t blame them."

McDonald's hopes to fill 3,000 jobs in the Southland. Some locations advertise openings from entry level crew members to operations managers.